Can aged care facilities cope without RNS?

Lamp, The, July, 2008

A move by the aged care industry to remove RNs from rosters could have dire consequences in light of new statistics from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

The peak lobby group for not-for-profit aged care services in NSW, the Aged and Community Services Association of NSW, is developing a submission to NSW Health to remove the requirement under Section 52 of the NSW Public Health Act that requires a registered nurse to be on duty in the nursing home at all times.

The move comes in the wake of a recent AIHW report on residential aged care in Australia showing that 70% of current residents now have high care needs.

The statistics support the Australian Nursing Federation's argument that today's aged care facilities are more like hospitals than residences.

ANF secretary Ged Kearney said more people with more complex health care needs are accessing aged care services and, therefore, require a higher level of nursing care.

'Aged care providers continue to rely on assistants in nursing (AiNs) or carers who are constantly asked to attend to residents' needs that are beyond their level of skill, or knowledge, to manage. It is simply not fair to AiNs, the carers or the residents.

'The people working in aged care are wonderfully dedicated and deserve to be fully supported by qualified staff. Enrolled and registered nurses are needed to provide the complex care required by residents and to work with AiNs,' Ms Kearney said.

The ANF is calling on the Federal Government to legislate for minimum staffing levels in aged care, for appropriate numbers and mix of all levels of nursing staff, and for a mechanism to ensure that nurses in aged care have wage parity with their colleagues working in other health sectors.

Nurses in aged care currently earn on average $250 a week less than those in other sectors.